The day was getting longer and the weather warmer. A group of boys got together in the park after school to play ball. They piled their knapsacks together in the corner of the court.
After a few games, the sky grew dark. “It looks like it’s about to pour,” Aharon said.
The boys gathered their belongings and headed home. Aharon was the last to leave. He noticed a book lying where the knapsacks had been piled, but ignored it and hurried off. Ten minutes later, the skies opened and it began to rain heavily.
The following day, Aharon saw that his friend Shimmy looked upset. “What’s the matter?” Aharon asked.
“A book fell out of my knapsack yesterday in the park,” Shimmy replied. “I went back to check this morning, but the book got completely ruined in the rain.”
“I saw a book lying there yesterday,” Aharon said. “I was worried about the rain.”
“You saw it?!” exclaimed Shimmy. “Why didn’t you take it with you?”
“I didn’t realize it was yours…” Aharon answered.
“You still should have taken the book,” said Shimmy. “Whosever it was, you could have saved it.”
“You’re right,” acknowledged Aharon. “I wasn’t thinking and didn’t want to be bothered.”
“It was an expensive book and cost almost $100,” added Shimmy. “I need it for class and will have to buy a new one. It’s a shame you didn’t take the book; you knew that it belonged to one of the group. Anyway, there’s a mitzvah of hashavas aveidah.”
Although Shimmy didn’t ask, Aharon wondered whether he owed Shimmy anything. He called Rabbi Dayan and asked: “Does a person who ignored a lost item or neglected to prevent a loss carry any liability?”
“Preventing loss is also included in the mitzvah of hashavas aveidah,” answered Rabbi Dayan. “Nonetheless, one who neglected doing so is not liable, but there might be a moral obligation.”
“One example discussed in the poskim is a person who was entrusted with chametz before Pesach,” explained Rabbi Dayan. “The Shulchan Aruch writes that when Pesach arrives, the guardian should sell the chametz to a non-Jew. If he did not, he must burn it when the time for biur chametz arrives, and cannot assume the owner sold it. [The halacha might differ nowadays when the vast majority of people sell chametz.] Magen Avraham [443:5] writes that if the guardian neglected to sell the chametz and had to burn it, he is liable, because even an unpaid guardian is expected to take basic measures to protect the entrusted item.”
“However, most authorities disagree and maintain that even a paid guardian is not liable for the loss of the chametz,” continued Rabbi Dayan. “The guardian was entrusted to safeguard the chametz for the owner, not to sell it. The obligation to sell the chametz and prevent its loss is rooted in hashavas aveidah. One who sees a lost item and neglects to return it is not liable, unless he picked it up and thereby became responsible for it.” (Gra C.M. 348:23; Ketzos 61:21; Mishnah Berurah 443:12)
“Is there any moral obligation?” asked Aharon.
“Payment lifnim mishuras hadin, beyond the letter of the law, is mentioned regarding a highly respected person who finds a lost item that is beneath his dignity to retrieve,” answered Rabbi Dayan. “He is not obligated to tend to it, but one of the amoraim compensated the owner lifnim mishuras hadin. However, he may have paid to relieve himself of any responsibility whatsoever to retrieve the item.
“It remains unclear, though, whether one who neglected to tend to a lost item as required and it got ruined has a moral obligation afterward; the Ketzos and other achronim indicate that there would be some moral obligation.” (See Rama C.M. 2663:3; Pischei Choshen, Aveidah 1:3[8]; Pischei Teshuvah C.M. 28:4.)
